mark---this is unrelated to your post, but i must share it with you nonetheless.before i left for work, i watched the book awards that i dvr'ed yesterday...very exciting. of course, seeing you get an award was the best, but i did enjoy some other moments. i loved that robert pinsky read from a folded up, obviously looked-at-more-than-once paper to read the nominations. and you pulled out a paper that looked much the same. writers really use paper and paper is on them most of the time.another thing...your acceptance speech answered a question i've been asking myself for a couple of weeks, a question i have not uttered aloud to anyone. i've been wondering how much i should keep talking about gay marriage and the horror of proposition eight. your acceptance speech made it clear that i should keep finding opportunities to voice my opinion.

I was coming to your blog to post heart-felt congratulations on your award! I am registered for Fairfield Univeristy's MFA program and am looking forward to your reading. I've very much enjoyed your postings and appreciate your fine words and gentle candor. And now, I've learned to enter a room! I have the perfect dress for practicing and an hour this chilly afternoon. Again, congratulations! Krista Richards Mann

My favorite part of this has to be about 48 seconds in when she gestures to the parts of her outfit that allow for that grand swirling entrance. Beautiful.Now where or where is a lady to find such a dress today?